


Who let the Eye choose a child?

by readingpast12



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: At the same time, Gen, Good Parent Midoriya Hisashi, Horror, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Midoriya Izuku is the Archivist, No Beta—We Die Like Men, Original Statement (The Magnus Archives), Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, kind of, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26365036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readingpast12/pseuds/readingpast12
Summary: Izuku is the Archivist.  All three O.G. assistants are around but none of them are okay.  Elias is also here and genuinely wants to be a good boss and mentor despite still doing murder sometimes. The entities are (mostly) the same but the conspiracies are different and the cannon is a mess.  It seems the most qualified person to face down beings of pure fear is a kid full of empathy and hope.
Relationships: Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Gerard Keay/Michael | The Distortion
Comments: 13
Kudos: 91





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter has both a prose section and a statement, usually it's one or the other. I'd love to know what y'all are interested in seeing. I'm also using the cannon set up so wonderfully by BonesOfBirdWings in Subject: A Comprehensive Report for dates and biology and stuff. I'm not smart enough to keep all that together otherwise.

The boy had fluffy green hair, freckles dotting his round face, and an odd pattern of scars running from his forehead down his neck and beneath his collar like terrible pockmarks. The paper referred to him as Midoriya Izuku. Nedzu recognized him as the Archivist. The previous Archivist took his statement once. Nedzu wonders if this boy already read it.

“How are you a transfer student? The institute isn’t actually a school.” The principal asked. The transcript in front of him showed otherwise.

The Archivist shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I mean, they give internship credits in all sorts of departments. My real school is just online but the Magnus Institute does give me grades and they put my salary down as a stipend. There isn’t much for me to do for the next decade or so except read and train so they thought going to a hero school would be a good way to do the training part. The powers are kind of like a quirk, I guess.”

“What’s happening in a decade?"

The child’s tone shifted. “You don’t want to know, but it will get handled better than it did last time.”

“So you’re transferring into year 1?”

“I finished the first year of 4 year high school. I’m supposed to have 3 years left.”

“UA doesn’t usually take transfer students.”

“I know, but Mr. Bouchard said it was in your best interest to take me. I asked him what he meant. He said it was confidential business” Nedzu couldn’t help but notice the way the Archivist dropped his voice and put on an accent when quoting his boss. It would have been endearing if it wasn’t a threat. Elias was right, though. Nedzu was all too familiar with the true job of the archivist and if going to UA would prepare him better, it was a matter of the greater good.

The next question was class 1A or 1B. Which of the teachers would handle the Archivist better? It was a question Nedzu would have to think about. “I’ll be in touch with you in regards to your schedule. Your transfer documents are sufficient for entry and you won’t have to take an exam. I’ll let Elias know.”

The Archivist smiled brightly. “Really? My mom will be so proud!” He left the room in an excited rush. Izuku Midoriya really seemed so much like the other first years. God help us all if the Archivist was truly just a child.

Izuku walked in the door about 5:00 and threw down his backpack. “Mom, I’m back!”

It was hard being away from her. His dad was great, the archival assistants were nice, even Mr. Bouchard got oddly parental. None of that stopped him from missing his mom. She was all he had for 10 years. Leaving her was hard and he was glad to have her back. Not that he didn’t miss everyone in England! It was just nice to be home.

Inko rushed out of the kitchen “You’re dad said you got in!”

Izuku groaned. “I wanted to tell you in person.”

Inko took him in her arms. “He was just so proud of you. I know this was your dream.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Izuku couldn’t help but feel a bit sad. He knew that his mom wouldn’t have been this supportive before he got this ‘quirk’.

“Oh, maybe you should thank your father for spoiling the secret. It gave me time to get started on Katsudon!”

Notifications began to pop up in the group chat as the rest of the office in England started checking emails and messages.

Sasha sent a picture of the office teddy bear saying congratulations, the speech bubble was cut out of white printer paper and the text was in poorly written kanji. That was definitely his new screen saver. Izuku brought it in when Martin was stuck sleeping in the back office. Part of it was as a joke, but part of it was for actual comfort. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to grab it and give it a quick squeeze when researching the statements led to… uncomfortable places.

Even Tim sent a curt congratulations. Izuku used to think Tim hated him. He knows that Tim is resentful in a deep way that Izuku knows that his mom has a statement to give one day. But most of it was, as Sasha neatly put it, a long stick up his much-abused asshole. Martin scolded her for talking like that in front of Izuku. As if a curse word would be the most disturbing thing the Archivist would be exposed to that day.

Izuku went to his room and turned on a tape recorder. He had taken the statement of a homeless man he met on a detour through the park. Izuku didn’t have a tape recorder on him when he’d stumbled upon the homeless man. His phone never did the job quite right. However, Izuku found that if he was writing a statement, he was able to write faster and whatever shorthand he used at the moment would always make sense looking back. Unfortunately, those statements were illegible to everyone else. He could smell dinner cooking and his stomach was growling, but he wanted to get this to tape as soon as possible.

“Statement of Iwata Ando, regarding a voyage into an underwater cave, original statement given May 2nd, 2179. Recording by Midoriya Izuku, archival intern at the Magus Institute. Statement begins.

“My mom had a shark quirk and my dad had a quirk that let him make his skin like rock. I ended up with a transformation quirk. I could hold my breath for a couple days, so long as I kept up a layer of rock over my skin. It was all well and good except when I was covered in stone, I’d sink. That made a lot of the go to jobs for people like me a bit hard, and things that let me be under water were left as hobbies.

"My favorite was cave diving. I would spend a weekend exploring an underwater cave and come back up for work on monday. There aren’t any paths, not enough people can stay under long enough to make them, but I did what I could to stay safe. I’d let people know where I was going, I kept an emergency beacon with me and I stayed close to where an underwater rescue hero could find me if the worst happened. It was winter of 2132. Yeah, I don’t look that old but that’s part of the story.

"I had a girlfriend at the time, a sweet quirkless girl who was way out of my league. Needless to say she couldn’t come on the kinds of cave dives I did but I always came back with pictures and souvenirs, mostly just shiny rocks but she liked them. I told her where I was going and I set off. It was a cave near Oita, probably connected to Inazumi somehow. I should be honest and say I didn’t have permission for most of these excursions, that one included. They’d say no and talk about preserving wildlife and stuff. I’d be careful and it seemed better to ask forgiveness than permission if the worst happened.

"It started off well. The water was unseasonably warm in the cave, but that was the draw. It was peaceful and dark. The only light was the flashlight I brought with me. It reflected off the walls in otherworldly ways that drew me deeper and deeper in. I was careful not to break the fragile stalagmites and if my light happened upon a creacher not used to it, I would immediately draw it away. I never wanted to disturb anything.

"When I'm underwater like that, I don't need to drink, my skin just kind of absorbed it. Saltwater isn’t unhealthy for me but I can tell the difference. As I entered a large chamber the water seemed different, brackish. I would call it “fresher” but it was rancid. It was like drinking from a stagnant puddle, but it shouldn’t have. Even in the most isolated places in the ocean, water is always moving. It doesn’t normally stay still like that. Debris shifted in the currents I made as I moved carefully in the cave. It was like floating white confetti, except it was lifeless and suspended and completely still.

"I shone my flashlight up but the beam didn’t reach the top of the cavern. It didn’t reach either side. I tried to turn back, but it didn’t reach the wall that was just behind me. That probably makes the cavern seem enormous, but my light didn’t travel that far. The water was clear, but somehow the light just faded faster in that place. Every breath I took meant tasting the disgusting water full of floating bits of decaying matter. I started backing up towards the wall I walked for an impossibly long time. I started worrying that my flashlight would die, so I turned it off to conserve the battery and walked blindly in the dark. I expected my eyes to adjust to the light, but they never did.

"I don’t know how long I looked for the entrance. Like I said, I don’t know if the cavern was even that big. It couldn’t have been more than a few days; I never felt out of breath. I did start feeling tired, but I closed my eyes when my lids felt heavy and just kept walking. Eventually, I hit a wall. It was a bit of a walk to the entrance to the cavern, but I got out pretty soon after I think. After that, I made my way to the surface. I never bothered turning the flashlight back on, everything was relatively bright. I don’t think a darkness deeper than the darkness I saw there could exist.  
I made it to the surface, lowered the layer of rock, and went looking for the bag I buried that had a dry change of clothes in it. It wasn’t there. It didn’t look dug up, but I thought someone had just found it yesterday. It had happened to me before. I kept some money in a ziplock bag in the swim trunks I wore to go diving. I bought a shirt from a tourist stall and some cheap shorts and underwear at a convenience store. I realized I hadn’t even eaten that whole time I was trapped in the cave. The moment I thought about it I was hungry and bought a quick snack as well. Next stop was the police station, to report my missing items. That's where I found out I had been missing for 40 years.

"I told them I didn’t remember being assaulted, that I had just woken up on a beach. I didn’t tell them about the cave. There was nothing they could do except inform me that in the time I was away, my loved ones had passed, my mom, my dad, my girl. My house had been sold. Of course, my job was gone. None of my paperwork or assets remained. I had nothing. I was in the dark for 40 years.  
Now I’m homeless in a world that always seems too bright.

"Statement ends.”

“Addendum: I sent the statement back to the institute. They responded quickly. It was easy to confirm many of the details. We found an obituary for Iwata Ando and the picture matches the person I saw, although he seemed much, much paler. Current maps of the underwater cave system of Oita don’t show much. Mr. Iwata couldn’t tell me much about the cave he set into. The copy of his diving plans is long lost. He wasn’t the only person with an aquatic quirk to go missing near there however, almost 20 years later. Maybe this will be useful if history is repeated.”


	2. Confusion

Izuku worked through the statements Elias had sent with him at the pace of about 1 a week. A quick skim of the filing information showed most of them being statements taken at the Institute in London with very few exceptions. There wasn’t much he could add to the background outside of what a cursory Google search could provide, but Izuku confirmed what he could before sending them off. He was determined to do his part in the office.

Izuku sent an email to Mr. Bouchard explaining how useless he felt in terms of research. The response was that, for now, Izuku was supposed to focus on being a good student and “furthering his social development.” By the time school was meant to start, the Izuku was incredibly restless.

Inko made Izuku breakfast and sent him off with a hug. Martin apparently stayed up late so that he could send a good luck message on behalf of the office the morning school started. He got to school with no problems but it took him a while to find his classroom. As soon as he walked in the door he saw Kacchan pale.

Izuku gave a nervous wave and tried to find his seat.

“What the hell nerd, I thought you were dead!” 

Izuku blinked “I. No. What?”

“You went missing and then Aunty Inko cried and said you were with your dad now.”

“My dad’s not dead either...”

Sparks flew from Kacchan’s hands “I thought you were fucking dead and you were fine?! And what the hell happened to your face!”

Izuku covered his face with his hands as it went red. A tall boy with black hair and glasses spoke up. “What an obviously inappropriate question. Sit down and avoid damaging school property.” The boy walked up to him stiffly and held out his hand. “My name is Tenya Iida. I didn’t notice you at the recommended student exam or the general hero course exam.”

“I, maybe you just didn’t notice me?” He started glancing around nervously until his eyes fell upon a giant yellow sleeping bag in the hall. 

A few members of the class followed his gaze. The sleeping bag rolled to reveal the stubbled face of a man drinking a jelly pouch. He sucked it slowly and discarded the empty pouch into the sleeping bag. “This discussion is delaying class. If you're here to make friends, give up being a hero now.”

He introduced himself as their teacher and instructed them to change clothes and get on the field. Izuku did as he was told and tried to ignore the sense that the teacher had a story to tell as well. Actually, Izuku wouldn’t be surprised if Aizawa was the Pro Hero equivalent to Section 31. It was a problem for later. One thing being a victim of bullying teaches you is how to get changed and out of a locker room fast. He and Kacchan were going to have to talk later but Izuku was hoping to put the discussion off.

Izuku was the second person on the field, beat only by Mina. Mr. Aizawa seemed approving. The rest of the class made their own way out at a leisurely pace. Izuku shifted nervously as the Aizawa explained the test. The small amount of self-defense Daisey was teaching him wasn’t going to make a difference in a quirk test structured like this. It’s not like he could compel the ball to go further. Kacchan was staring at him. If Kacchan called him out for being quirkless that would be one more thing Izuku couldn’t easily explain.

All the other students were excited, and why wouldn’t they be. They got to use their super fun, interesting quirks! The excitement died the moment Aizawa made the final point. The student in last had no potential. They would be expelled. Izuku slumped. Bouchard pulled so many strings to get him here. But maybe this was fair. Izuku didn’t deserve to be here.

In every test, Izuku found himself dead last. There were no surprises when Aizawa announced the scores. “Go pick up your syllabus and go home, the real training starts tomorrow. Izuku, stay here.”

A few of the students sent sad looks his way as they went back to the room, but nobody spoke up. Izuku shifted uncomfortably while he waited for everyone else to clear out. Aizawa stayed dead still, not once breaking eye contact. “Why are you here?” the teacher finally asked when the rest of the class was gone.

“I have things I have to do and this is where I’m supposed to get stronger.” It was the best answer Izuku could come up with at the moment.

“Do you care to be more specific?”

Izuku looked at Aizawa more directly. “Have you ever had to kill a vampire? A real one. The kind that don’t talk but make people understand them anyways.”

Now Aizawa seemed uncomfortable. “No, it got passed off to a different hero the moment I described what I saw.”

Izuku nodded. “But you get cases passed to you when they start getting unexplainable. You’re one of those heroes.”

“How did you know?”

“I can tell when people have had a certain type of encounter. My boss said something once to an officer that does the kind of work you do. ‘The monsters you faced are the surface of a well. I’m one of the things you find at the bottom.’”

Now it was Aizawa who looked uncomfortable. “Is that a threat?”

Izuku turned red. “Oh my goodness no! I just can’t find a good way to explain what’s going on. I’m used to people being more aware of everything and I thought it was a good metaphor.” Aizawa didn’t seem any less uncomfortable. In hindsight, the original quote probably was a threat. Sometimes Izuku wasn’t as scared as he was supposed to be. It was probably one of the reasons he got ‘chosen,’ ‘possessed?’ Whatever was the right word for what he was.

Izuku had to ask the next question, he didn’t know how to ask a question without accidentally Compelling, so he tried to avoid it. “What did the principal tell you about me anyways?”

“Just to be wary of you. I don’t even know what your quirk is.”

“It’s a couple of things I guess. It’s not really a quirk. Technically I don’t even have one. I’m working out what the limits and stuff are but the more I use it the stronger it gets so it’s hard to really analyze. Right now the main thing is that when I ask a question, I can make people answer me honestly and completely. I also seem to heal a bit faster than normal, but it depends on how I get hurt. Also I sometimes just know things. Not as much as the boss I mentioned earlier.”

“Is your boss a metaphor for something?” Aizawa asked tiredly.

“Oh, no. His name is Elias Bouchard. He’s mostly just a person.” Although now that Izuku thought about it, it did kind of seem like he was more than just the boss and not in a ‘he’s also family’ sort of way.

“Mostly?”

Oh, that would be the kind of thing other people get stuck on. “Um, less human than me, but a lot more human than some.”

Aizawa put a hand over his face. This obviously wasn’t the clarification he was hoping for. Izuku added, “If you’re getting a headache that’s a good clue we should stop talking about this. I am actually expelled by the way?”

“Not yet. Go home; I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

Izuku took his leave before Aizawa changed his mind.


	3. Spirals, part 1

Izuku took his seat on the second day of school. His teacher was face down in the floor in his sleeping bag. Izuku forgot how weird normal people already were sometimes. Maybe the fact Aizawa was always trying to catch some extra sleep had to do with the statement Izuku would have to take from him eventually. From what research Izuku could do on his teacher last night, it was also completely feasible that he was just like that. 

Tim commented on the weird analyses he did on everyone, once. Specifically, he found his entry and asked if Izuku was turning into a stalker or something. Izuku explained that he had been doing them long before the Archivist thing. Tim found that completely unreassuring. 

“How come you weren’t expelled?” Mineta asked from over Izuku’s shoulder.

The yellow mass on the floor answered before Izuku could. “The expulsion threat was a logical ruse to make everyone try their best.”

Izuku caught a small snarl from Kacchan in response. Why did he care? He was never on the shortlist for going home. Maybe Kacchan realized Aizawa was back peddling. It could be that he was upset that Izuku was still in his class. It usually wasn’t good when Kacchan was angry. 

Kacchan turned around to face Izuku. “Calm down and stop with the Goddamn muttering.” 

Izuku snapped a hand over his mouth. He really needed to work on the habit. He knew a lot more stuff that he couldn’t let slip out now.

As soon as the clock hit start time Aizawa got out of his sleeping bag. It was like a worm slipping out of a cocoon too early. Izuku tried to blink away the mental image. Aizawa called roll with little fanfare. Then their English teacher came in. 

“ _ All right class! Are you ready?” _ Present Mic shouted in English in the sleepy room.

Izuku started to shout back, “ _ Yeah!”  _ but he soon realized he was the only person responding and he let it trail off weakly.

Present Mic pointed at him. “I like your energy!” The teacher wrote 4 sentences on the blackboard. “Care to read these out?”

Izuku was suddenly newly self-conscious of his accent. As good as his English had gotten, he still wasn’t a fan of public speaking. He stumbled through all 4, painfully aware of every mistake.

“Good job! You sound like a natural!” The teacher exclaimed. Izuku didn’t see his expression as he was trying to hide in his book

Class moved quickly and he wasn’t called on again (not that he volunteered). At least the tests would be easy? Maybe having one less thing to study for would give him time to work on side projects.

Next was math, taught by Ectoplasm. Izuku hated math, more so now that he knew for certain he wasn’t going to use anything more complicated than the distance formula in his career. That didn't mean he was going to let himself get a bad grade though.

Heroics class was in the afternoon. “I AM… coming through the door like a normal person!”

Izuku couldn’t believe All Might was teaching this year. Did the Number 1 hero remember Izuku? A small, petty part of him kind of hoped he did. All Might told a 12-year-old quirkless boy to give up on his dreams but he didn’t and now he’s in the top hero school in the world. On the other hand, Izuku knew that if All Might did remember, then it would be pretty difficult to explain why he seems to have a quirk now. But honestly, why would he remember?

They got into their hero costumes for the class. Luckily he was able to use his British working papers as the basis for updating his quirk registration. It wasn’t hard to believe an in-depth analysis for immigration purposes could reveal a subtle quirk. 

Izuku’s costume changed a bit since he designed it as a kid. He still had a hooded mask that went over his eyes, but he didn’t request the bunny ears. His mouth was now covered by a support item he pitched to a peppy girl with pink hair and cross-hatched eyes. It was supposed to amplify his voice when he was trying to ask a question or give field commands, but stifle it when he started to mutter. Since it couldn’t really be used to commit crimes and could be replicated with public technology, it didn’t require a licensed professional to make it. 

He had a red belt with three compartments. A place for a tape recorder (a request that confused the support department), a first aid kit, and a sheath for the knife Daisy gave him as a parting gift. It was apparently the same knife she used when she threatened to slit his throat. Izuku wasn’t sure that qualified as sweet, but Daisy didn’t really do sweet.

They were partnered for a hero/villain combat activity and Izuku was set against Kacchan and Iida. His partner was Ochaco Uraraka. She had a gravity quirk that could be used in a lot of creative ways, but none of them were particularly good counters.

“What is your quirk anyways? It wasn’t really obvious from the physical tests yesterday.”

Izuku tried not to sound too practiced when he recited the explanation he had worked out. “Um, the more useful quirk is injury recovery so I heal really fast from most injuries. I can also make people answer my questions honestly. I’m not sure how that will help in this exercise though.”

“2 quirks? That’s super cool! I can see how neither of them would show up on yesterday’s tests, but that first one is a great heroics quirk.”

Izuku could feel his face going hot. He hadn’t thought about himself as a real heroics student until now, but Ochaco made it seem like it was the most natural thing in the world. He wasn’t sure if he could be the Archivist and a pro-hero at the same time, but maybe the Eye hadn’t taken his dream away after all. “I’d like to know about your quirk, too. For the exercise I mean.”

“Yeah, of course!” Ochaco went on to explain the specifics of her gravity quirk and Izuku tried to come up with a plan. If Kacchan hadn’t changed too much, then he’d probably go after Izuku first. He wondered if it would count as an invasion of privacy if Izuku just asked where the fake bomb was point blank. He was supposed to be training with the powers, that meant he had to use it. 

It was the start of a plan. “I think Katsuki is going to attack me first. I’m hoping that I can hold him off long enough for you to get to the bomb without him getting in the way. You should probably hide while I draw his attention. As soon as he says where the bomb is, go for it. I’ll meet up with you when I can.” It seemed like a good start and the hero duo started wandering around quietly as they looked for a place to stage the initial combat.

Izuku froze when Ochaco found a door that wasn’t on the map. By all rights, it shouldn’t lead anywhere. Ochaco was about to peek inside when Izuku stopped her. “You really don’t want to go in there,” he tried to explain.

Izuku put his hear against the door and heard shrill hollow laughter. What was he doing here? He knocked on the door.

“ _ Come in.” _

Uraraka wasn’t very good at English, but it was clear Izuku was. He was saying stuff into the door. She strained to hear the reply but it seemed to change locations whenever she thought she pinpointed its source. Eventually, a young man or late teenager opened the door and came out. He was tall and lanky with straw blonde hair. For the life of her, Uraraka couldn’t figure out what color his eyes were. She was pulled away from the scene by a voice in her ear. 

With a calm but authoritative tone, All Might said. “Get away from him. Come to the viewing room.” 

Izuku must have heard it too but he responded by removing the earpiece and continuing the conversation with the door person. Uraraka wanted to back away. She wanted to run away. But how could she leave Izuku behind?

“Izuku? All Might Sensei says we have to leave.”

Izuku put up a finger towards the blonde man. “You can go, just be careful of the doors you go through. I need to finish talking to my friend first.”

Uraraka shook her head and planted her feet. “I won’t leave without you.”

Izuku blinked in surprise but turned back to the man. From what Ochaco could understand it seemed like Izuku was giving his email. Then he gave the man a hug and the blonde disappeared back through the door he came through. “What just happened?”

Izuku shrugged, “Something weird. Let’s go back.” 

When Uraraka looked back at the door, it was gone too. “Ugh, my head hurts.”

Izuku held up a finger and took on the tone of someone reciting the tagline of an after school special, “Sometimes a headache is your brain's way to tell you to stop thinking about it.”

He seemed to smile a bit like he just told a joke. Uraraka tried to think about something else. “Do you think that the others are going to be upset the exercise ended early?” She asked.

Izuku seemed to pale a bit, as if that was the scary thing that might happen today. “I hope not.”

A few other teachers were rushing into the building as they were trying to exit. One of them broke off to escort them the rest of the way back. Uraraka recognized him as Snipe, her dad's favorite hero.

As soon as they got back the other students came up to hug them. Uraraka couldn’t help but notice the way Izuku stiffened at unexpected physical contact. 

“I can’t believe how you stayed so calm when there was a monster right there! It was super manly.” Kirishima said to them.

“He seemed pretty normal looking to me,” Uraraka tried to explain, “he didn’t even have a mutation quirk.”

All Might coughed into his hand. “I suspect we might have seen something rather different than you. He seemed to just appear and depending on the camera angle, he either looked like a normal person or incredibly disturbing. I suspect he had some sort of sensory quirk.” 

Uraraka tilted her head. “He didn’t come out of nowhere. There was a door.” Also, she noticed how the student with all the arms seemed a bit uncomfortable with the descriptions they were using. She was almost about to say something.

“Actually,” Izuku interrupted, “He wasn’t there in the first place. The other teachers aren’t going to find evidence of him and you won’t see him on the playback of the video. Audio recording sometimes sticks around, but only if it isn’t digital.”

At that point, Snipe decided to rewind the recording. It showed empty halls except for Midoriya and Uraraka. “Y’all swear you saw it though, right?” Snipe asked the confused onlookers.

The kid with the bird head, whose name Uraraka had forgotten, nodded solemnly. “There was truly a dark presence sharing the halls with our classmates, but only one of our classmates and our teacher seemed to have seen the more disturbing facets of its existence.”

“What did you specifically see?” Snipe prompted further.

“I saw a tall blonde man show up from nowhere. I didn’t particularly like to look at him and I cannot explain why.”

Snipe turned back to Izuku. “And you're saying he wasn’t really here.”

“Kind of, it’s hard to explain what he is,” Izuku tried to clarify, “He’s definitely currently in England if nothing else. I told him that he couldn’t disrupt class and he said he was sorry if he caused trouble. I apologize that I couldn’t keep a better handle on my friends.” Izuku bowed in apology.

“Are we doing this in another building or something?” Kacchan asked when the class seemed to settle.

All might seemed surprised at the question and looked at the clock. He still had 40 minutes of class time to fill. 

“I think we’ll go to another training ground and spar in your new costumes! This specific activity is delayed. We should probably set out ground rules for what is expected injury and what goes too far before doing an exercise like this anyways!”

  
  


Shouta once again asked Izuku to stay after school. The teacher overheard a confrontation between Midiyora and Bakugo. “I won’t let you keep getting away with all this mystery bullshit! You’re going to tell me what the fuck happened tonight. Tell Aunty Inko I’ll be over after dinner. Got it, Deku?” Shouta didn’t hear Midoriya’s answer, but based on the tone of the conversation, he had a feeling that meant yes. As if this kid didn’t have enough problems.

Izuku stood uncomfortably by the podium. Shouta often found small talk unnecessary. It was illogical to do anything but get to the point. “Who was that in your heroics class?”

“Oh, I think you mean Micheal. I guess he’s another person at the bottom of the well.”

“And how human is Micheal?”

“Um, definitely less than Mr. Bouchard. Probably about 50/50?”

Shouta slumped into his seat. “Do I even want to know what the other 50% is?”

“You really, really don’t.”

“Is he a danger to the other students?” Shouta asked.

“No! He’s scary but he isn’t evil. He’s really trying to get better, too. He even saved me one of the times I got kidnapped.”

Shouta covered his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Are you getting a headache?” Izuku asked with genuine concern.

“Ochaco said it seemed like you gave him your email?” Shouta asked.

“Don’t worry,” Izuku answered, “I used my work email, not my school one.”


	4. Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katsuki tries to get some information out of Izuku.

At 8:00 p.m. Katsuki knocked on the door of the Midiyoras’ apartment. The last time he was here, Katsuki was 8 and his mom was taking his dad to the hospital. Aunty Inko seemed surprised when she answered the door. Didn’t the Deku tell her?

“I told Izuku I was coming over,” Katsuki said.

“He mentioned it. It’s just been such a long time. I hope you and Izuku can be good friends again since you’re back at the same school," Inko replied. She was smiling so earnestly. She led Katsuki to Izuku’s room as if Katsuki didn’t remember where it was. She offered him a freshly baked cookie, but it felt too weird to say yes.

Deku was in his room working on a surprisingly nice laptop that Aunty Inko definitely couldn’t afford. He still had notebooks scattered across his desk but they were labeled differently. All the hero shit was gone. The room was almost generic except for a signed “ _ What the Ghost _ ” poster and a few personal photos. Katsuki didn’t recognize anyone in them except for a freckled man with curly red hair, Izuku’s dad. In all the photos Deku seemed tired but happy.

Deku shut his laptop as soon as he noticed Katsuki in the door. “Kacchan, I am so sorry you thought I was dead. I asked my mom about it when I got home and I definitely see why you thought that. I..”

Katsuki interrupted, “Don’t you fucking apologize, Deku! I was the one who fucked up! It was my goddamn fault.”

“I'm okay. Besides, it wasn’t just you, Kacchan,” Izuku said gently. 

“Then what the hell happened?”

“I moved in with my dad,” Izuku said, voice still soft.

“There’s more to it than that and we both know it!”

Izuku covered his face. It was just about the least subtle nervous habit ever, including thinking out loud, which Deku also did. Katsuki sat down in the desk chair and waited for the nerd to start talking again. Deku always hated silence.

“Living here was just terrible sometimes,” Deku finally explained, “I didn’t have any friends, the teachers barely acknowledged my existence and all my classmates either ignored me or bullied me. I knew there wasn’t much chance for me becoming a hero, but the employment rate in Japan for quirkless people is 15%. I probably wasn’t going to get a job anywhere. I guess I just always imagined that things would be better if I lived with my dad. Until 3 years ago I wasn’t even sure what country that meant, just that it was somewhere overseas.”

Izuku squirmed a bit, but he kept going. “We had that last fight our first year of middle school. Then on the way home, I got attacked by a villain. I was saved by a hero, but when I asked them if I had a shot at being a hero too, I was told to give up. The idea of waking up the next day and going to school and doing all of it again- I hated it. So I went online and internet stalked my dad until I found out where he worked. It was an office in London. I sold all my hero memorabilia and bought a plane ticket to England. It’s a lot easier to go through immigration if you’re documented as quirkless. I met him at his office and convinced him to let me stay. Then I stayed.”

Katsuki felt his eye twitch. “But that doesn’t explain how you got into UA or how you got those weird scars.”

“Um, after I moved in with my dad I started doing online school and interning at his office. They do paranormal research and they work with underground hero agencies sometimes. I got the scars when a woman infested with bugs attacked the office. I tried to talk her down, to help her somehow, but some of the worms burrowed into my skin. Sasha, one of the Archive staff, has an ice quirk and she was able to save me. Sasha ended up with frostbite but everyone else was okay.”

“So some higher-ups at a foreign office got their quirkless intern into UA?” Katsuki asked.

“Basically, but I’m also kinda not quirkless anymore,” Izuku replied.

Katsuki shot up in his chair. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Izuku used his fingernails to scratch deep into his arms. He hissed a bit from the pain but the cuts seemed to heal as quickly as Izuku made them. “It’s kind of like a self-healing quirk. Also, I can make people answer questions honestly when I ask them,” Izuku explained.

Katsuki’s mind sputtered a bit before it spit out the obvious question, “How?”

“The office investigates weird things and sometimes weird things happened to the people who work there.”

Katsuki’s mind was still reeling. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“I’m sorry! I really can’t tell you. There’s a lot of stuff that happened that I have to keep secret.”

“Fine! Fuck you and your weird friends! Just don’t drag me into whatever bullshit you have going on.”

Katsuki stormed out of the room. Aunty Inko seemed concerned, but she didn’t say anything. As he left he heard Deku whisper, “I hope I can save you from it.” Katsuki thought about going back in there and telling the Nerd that he didn’t need to be saved. Katsuki clenched his jaw. The conversation was over.


	5. Making Friends

The gate to UA was swarmed by reporters asking various questions about how All Might was as a teacher. It seemed like none of the class 1A students wanted to say anything about what happened in their first heroics class. Of course, Izuku sent a quick email to Mr. Bouchard regarding the encounter with Micheal. Izuku was a bit worried about Micheal targeting other students, but the Archivist just had to trust that the Distortion would stay true to the boundaries they’d set. 

Micheal had seemed genuinely upset about being left out of the loop. Nobody told him that Izuku was moving. Izuku pointed out that they didn’t actually have a way of contacting Micheal. There wasn’t exactly cell signal in the halls of the Spiral. Izuku gave Micheal his work email. If there was any server that could handle that exchange, it would be with The Magnus Institute. Izuku didn’t see any new messages that morning but held out hope that this would become an effective communication tool. It was better than knocking on strange doors and hoping for a reaction.

Izuku took his seat and pulled out a book about poultry farming. There seemed to be a lack of birds associated with The Flesh. It was a relatively innocent mystery to look into as far as his work went. Aizawa shed his sleeping bag cocoon for a brief announcement. “We’ll be picking class representatives today. I don’t particularly care how you choose, just do it before I wake up from my nap.” 

Iida suggested a pure election, but Yaoyorozu was the only candidate to receive more than one vote. She had been really helpful during the previous day’s sparring exercise. She gained 2 votes. Iida was probably the second vote. Izuku voted for Iida since he seemed to want it so much, but Iida only had one vote when the ballots were counted.

Aizawa didn’t seem concerned. “You can figure out the other positions later. We have work to do.” 

The rest of the morning passed slowly, but peacefully. Izuku was sort of enjoying the classes now that he was less star-struck. Without the constant bullying, it was nice to learn alongside other students. He was sure that everyone at the Institute would be happy for him. By the time lunch came around, Izuku had forgotten to be stressed. But then he realized he had nowhere to sit. 

Earlier he sat with Uraraka, but she’d probably ask questions that Izuku didn’t want to answer. Kacchan was definitely a no-go. The cafeteria was too crowded for there to be empty tables. In a different part of the cafeteria, there was a boy with purple hair eating alone. One person who had no reason to dislike Izuku. He could do that.

After a few deep breaths, Izuku sat down across from the other lone student. The other boy had bags under his eyes and a somewhat nervous expression.

“Hi! I’m Midoriya Izuku in class 1A. I was hoping I could sit with you?” Izuku tried to phrase it as a question without accidentally compelling the other kid.

“Uh, sure. I’m Shinso Hitoshi. Why here?” 

Izuku bit his lip and said, “I just didn’t want to sit with anyone from my class.”

“Are the 1A kids actually assholes or something?”

“No, everyone is really nice but they all seemed to form into groups and I felt awkward. It’s completely my fault!” Izuku noted that he was starting to babble and clamped his mouth shut.

Hitoshi seemed nonplussed. “I get that. Sometimes I feel like people don’t want to talk to me because of my quirk.”

“Um, I want to ask what your quirk is, but mine makes people answer my questions honestly, even if they don’t want to. I don’t want to invade your privacy but I’m really curious.”

“It’s called brainwashing. I can give people commands if they answer me.” Hitoshi looked at Izuku, who was staring silently. “Are you seriously going to stop talking to me now?”

“Oh, no I just am trying to phrase any of the million questions I have as not questions. I kind of do quirk analysis as a hobby. Although if you don’t really want to talk about it anyway, we totally don’t have to."

“Why don’t you just write them down later and I can answer them at lunch tomorrow?” Shinso said.

“Yes! Thank you! Always active quirks can be very inconvenient.”

“How did you even get into the hero course with that quirk. If I can’t brainwash robots I doubt you can interrogate them.”

Izuku laughed and explained, “I didn’t actually apply the normal way. I’m technically an international transfer student. I also have a healing quirk.”

“Yeah, that’s more of a typical hero quirk.”

“I mean, maybe in Japan. I know in England it’s a lot harder to get a license to use a quirk that could injure people for law enforcement. Quirks like yours are a lot more common in the British equivalent of the heroics industry. Heroes with flashy, dangerous quirks are usually under scrutiny for police brutality.”

Izuku paused for Hitoshi to talk. The purple-haired boy looked at Izuku closely, as if searching for proof that Izuku was lying. Izuku felt the need to keep rambling. “A hero I know, Daisy, got in trouble just for using brambles to block off an escape root because a villain got hurt trying to climb them. She has a plant quirk and I don’t know if she still has her license come to think of it…”

Hitoshi finally interrupted, “Are there other heroes abroad with brainwashing quirks?”

“Um, I can’t think of any in England that’s as strong as yours. Like, I met one hero who could make people who made eye contact with him freeze in place. Or, there’s a hero in Whales that Daisy knew who could make people dance when she sang. I think I’d have to know more about your quirk to give you a better answer,” Izuku said, “Will you be trying to move up to the hero course at the sports festival?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I actually have a chance,” Hitoshi admitted. He tilted his head and said, “I didn't mean to say that last part.”

“I asked you a question, sorry. My quirk manifested kind of late and I don’t have a great handle on it. Since you have a voice-activated mental quirk, maybe you can help me figure my stuff out and I’ll help you learn to fight. Daisy was teaching me before I transferred.”

“You had a pro hero teaching you to fight?” Hitoshi asked.

Before Izuku could offer an explanation, alarm bells began to ring. Izuku covered his face. Did Micheal break in again?

Hitoshi and Izuku were jostled and almost trampled in the chaos of the evacuation. This is why schools held drills. Izuku was surprised to see Iida spinning towards the wall above the crowd in the hallway. His glasses flew off his face and Izuku flinched as he imagined the lenses shattering under the many feet in the hall.  
Iida hit the wall but regained some sense of balance with his feet on an exit sign and his arm clutching an exposed metal pipe. “It’s just the press!” he explained loudly, “There is no reason to panic…”

The rest of his speech was drowned out by the relieved murmuring of the students. As the evacuation became less rushed Izuku tried to find the glasses on the floor. One lens had been cracked and the metal frames were bent, but it was probably better than nothing. Izuku picked them up and tried to hand them to Iida, who was still balancing on the exit sign. Iida reached out to take them. Iida couldn’t come down safely without the risk of falling on a student. Uraraka was leaning against a wall and clearly nauseated by her efforts. With no spare hand to manipulate the wires, Iida let the crooked glasses rest awkwardly on his nose. Izuku noticed Hitoshi covering a laugh. 

After the commotion, Yaoyorozu informed the class that they had to choose students for the other positions. Iida was chosen almost unanimously for deputy representative. Izuku reveled in the fact that for once when something had gone wrong, it had nothing to do with him.


	6. Extinction, part 1

Class 1A chattered on the bus ride to the off-campus facility. Izuku was almost done with his book on poultry farming and had a second book about bird intelligence waiting in his bag. Izuku couldn’t help but be distracted by the other students teasing Kacchan. It was weird to see him as the outsider being picked on. Izuku thought it would feel good to see the tables turned, but it didn’t. He refrained from saying anything though. Izuku knew Kacchan wouldn’t want a Deku standing up for him.

The bus ride was only 15 minutes and there was a second pro-hero waiting to greet them. This one Izuku recognized. Thirteen was one of the most popular rescue heroes ever and she looked pretty recognizable. Izuku tried to dull his excitement so that he might actually be able to learn something from the pro. As he focused on her speech, about how quirks can be incredibly dangerous, Izuku realized she wasn’t human. She didn’t seem like she ever was either. She wasn’t an avatar or a monster. But he  _ knew _ Thirteen wasn’t human. 

Izuku applauded with the rest of the class. Izuku eavesdropped on the conversation between the two teachers. All Might was supposed to be here too. That made sense, this was a heroics exercise. Aizawa didn’t seem worried about her. Before Izuku’s curiosity could get the better of him, the power throughout the facility flickered. A portal opened up at the entrance to the facility.

“Is this part of the exercise?” Kirishima asked.

“Stay back!” Aizawa snapped at the students, “Those are real villains.”

The criminals fanned out across the facility. They moved with a purpose. Someone had given them instructions. The misty black portal took on a humanoid shape and a few of the villains stayed close to it. One was a hulking black creature with an exposed brain and no intelligence in its bulging eyes. There was a man in a dark sweater with pale blue hair and severed hands gripping him. Izuku’s eyes locked with the final person. A goth man with long, black hair and eye tattoos.

Izuku was almost surprised by how closely Gerard Keay matched the mental image the Archivist painted from the statements he’d read about him. Gerard worked with Ms. Robinson. Gerard saved people in every statement he appeared in. If he was working with villains, there had to be something bigger going on.

Eraserhead tried to hold off the initial wave of villains so Thirteen could lead an escape. Izuku was momentarily awestruck by how efficiently Eraserhaead was taking them down. Their escape was interrupted by the mist man. As the opaque cloud surrounded them Izuku shouted into it. “Can you let me talk to Gerard Keay? The guy with the eye tattoos. Please!”

He felt the mist draw him away from the others. “Why?” the mist asked. It came from one location, so there was probably a mouth somewhere. He was just a human with a quirk. Izuku had faced down worse.

“He worked with Gertrude Robinson. I need to talk with him. I’m from the Magnus Institute.”

The mist conveyed an expression of surprise, but Izuku had no idea how. “Fine,” the mist conceded, “But don’t do anything foolish.”

Izuku appeared in front of the other villains. Any of them could reach him before he had a chance to defend himself. Izuku swallowed. “Mr. Keay?”

The goth chucked. “I’m 19, I don’t think I count as a mister.”

The blue-haired man looked at them strangely. Oh, they were speaking English. He probably wasn't expecting that. The language barrier created a veil of privacy that Izuku wanted to keep, so he continued in the foreign language. “My name is Izuku. I’m the Archivist.”

“How? You’re like, 10,” Gerard responded.

“I’m 14 and it was an accident. My dad works at the Institute and he decided that the Archives was a good place to let his kid hang out while he was busy. He works in artifacts, so it probably would be safer in most cases.”

“Prove it,” Gerard said, “compel me.”

“Why are you attacking a high school?” Izuku asked. 

“We’re trying to kill All Might. He’s involved with the Extinction.”

Izuku almost fell over in shock. “But he’s a Hero! He’d never try to end the world.”

“Not on purpose.” Gearard paused for a second. “So Gertrude’s dead, then? Since you’re the new Archivist.”

“I’m so sorry. I know you were close.”

“When did you take over?”

“A bit under 3 years ago. It was supposed to be a guy named Tim but he never meshed with the role I guess.”

The blue-haired man interrupted them in Japanese. “Does he know where All Might is?”

Izuku took a step back from the blue-haired man and towards Gerard. He’s just a human with a quirk, Izuku reminded himself. “He’s out sick,” said Izuku.

The villain scratched his neck. “Maybe if we kill a few students he’ll suck it up and come meet us.”

“This school is staffed by dozens of pro heroes. All of them will be here before All Might shows up.” Izuku tried to sound confident.

“He’s right Shigaraki, we should cut our losses and leave.” The mist man said.

Shigaraki whined “Kurogiri, we went through so much trouble to get here. We might as well kill an NPC. Poor Nomu hasn’t gotten any XP.”

“Have you gotten hard to kill yet?” Gerard asked in English.

“Yeah,” Izuku responded, a bit hesitant.

Gerard interrupted the man child in Japanese. “This kid volunteered if you leave his friends alone.” Wait, what? 

Shigaraki turned to him with a demented smile. “You want to be a hero that badly, kid?”

Then there was a crash in the ceiling. “I AM HERE!” All Might boomed. 

Shigaraki looked giddy. “I guess you lied. Nomu, destroy him!”

Before All Might could stop it, Nomu smacked Izuku hard. Bones cracked and healed only to shatter again when Izuku slammed into the concrete wall of the USJ. There was a 30 ft drop to the floor that compounded every injury that was just starting to heal. He tried to take a breath but his lungs wouldn’t inflate. In that terrible moment, he couldn’t even scream. Even when most of the damage was already healed, the aftershock of pain was still hard to think through.

Izuku heard blood-curdling screams from some of the students. Eraserhead was distracted for a moment and the villains he was fighting took advantage of it. Izuku just wanted to help people and somehow he always ended up being helpless. His muscles screamed and his joints popped as he got up.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Izuku said, channeling his father through clenched teeth. He took a wobbling step forward. 

A few villains broke away from Eraserhead to go after Izuku. “What are you doing kid?” The teacher shouted between attacks. “You’re obviously injured, don’t put yourself in more danger.” 

Izuku popped his neck and nearly fell to the ground. His wounds had closed but he left bloody handprints where he had to brace himself. He probably looked a lot worse than he was, but that didn’t give him much leeway. A villain with gorilla arms pounced on him. Izuku’s ribs shattered and his breath was knocked out of him, but he was able to use Daisy’s knife to cut the tendons of both the villain’s knees. The gorilla man screamed and collapsed when he tried to jump again. Izuku rolled out of the way, wheezing. A woman with sharp, fast-growing nails plunged her fingers into Izuku’s shoulders. 

“How are you still moving?” She growled. 

“I think I went into shock, so that’s helping,” Izuku answered before slamming the hilt of his knife into the villain’s head. He wasn’t usually this violent, did Daisy do something to this knife?

In his moment of distraction, a villain shot him with projectile spikes like porcupine needles. A few went straight through and healed easily, but some stuck where they landed, stinging. Izuku felt his strength leave him as he tried to pull them out individually. Slowly they pushed their way out on their own. It slowed down the healing, but it didn’t stop it. Good to know. The process was gradual enough that a few villains even approached thinking the student was finally vulnerable. As two stood on top of him, ready to strike, Izuku pulled two needles out of his chest and plunged it into the criminals. The other needles fell out of him when he stood.

The Shigaraki seemed incensed but Gerard had a sly smile. Izuku looked over to see All might strike the final blow against Nomu. That was good. The doors to the USJ burst open to reveal most of the school’s staff. That was also good. Daisy’s knife lay blood stained on the floor. Izuku bent down to pick it up and collapsed. That seemed good right now, too.


	7. Aftermath

Izuku woke up in the infirmary, surrounded by beeping machines. He was no longer in his hero costume. Recovery Girl was sitting on a stool nearby. She stared at him carefully.

“I put myself in a coma for a week once,” she said.

Izuku’s eyes widened. He sat up too quickly and he felt lightheaded. “How long was I out?”

“2 hours. I’m telling a story,” Recovery Girl answered. Izuku wondered if something was recording them.

The old lady continued, “I don’t use my quirk on myself too much anymore. I don’t often have to as a school nurse. As a young hero, though, I used it a lot to keep me going in situations that would be too dangerous for less durable heroes.

“It’s easy to think that pain and exhaustion are fine to keep pushing through. Other heroes push through terrible injuries. People with healing quirks think, since I’m just tired or just sore, I should keep going. Even with a medical degree, I thought the same thing. Which is how I overused my quirk to the point of coma. I imagine it’s also how you managed to justify going into late-stage shock.”

“Adrenaline does strange things to the body, more so with a healing quirk. You know what it feels like to push your limits now. Don’t do it again. You got medical attention, which is the only reason you are fine now. You would be a lot worse off if you hadn’t gotten help quickly. Even with help, you’re still on concussion watch.”

Recovery Girl ran a few diagnostic tests that couldn’t be done while he was sleeping. “You’re fine. Lunch Rush is keeping the cafeteria open late for students that missed lunch. Go eat”

As he walked out the door Izuku asked, “Did you tell my mom?”

The old woman rolled her eyes behind her goggles. “Your class got attacked and you had to receive medical attention. Of course, the school told your parents.”

  
  


Chiyo sighed after the student left her office. Her next patient was Toshinori. Another silly boy pushing past his limits. The difference being that Toshinori should know better by now.

Toshinori flinched as the office door opened.

“Relax,” Chiyo said, “it’s just me.”

Toshinori sighed followed by a small cough. A bit of blood dribbled out. “I apologize for taking over your office. I couldn’t let the boy see me in this form. How is he anyway?”

“He’s fine. Now get out of my office and lay down on the bed.”

“His healing quirk must be incredibly strong if he was able to recover from that much damage,” Toshinori mused.

“Yes, especially since he’s only been aware of it for a few years. It’s not unheard of for a quirk to become stronger in adolescence, especially mutation quirks, but his is very impressive.”

“Wait, was he ever registered as quirkless?” Toshinori asked.

“Yes he was, why do you ask?”

“I met him once before, I think. He asked me if a quirkless person could still be a hero. I tried to be gentle about it, but I told him no. Shortly after the boy went missing. It turned out to be a domestic situation. His parents were separated and he was just with his father. I hadn’t thought about it in a while and since I didn’t have any quirkless students I didn’t make the connection.”

“I suppose that’s understandable,” Chiyo said. Given the rates of suicide and violence against quirkless children, Chiyo might have given it more thought. Toshinori wasn’t the type to assume the worst, though, and Chiyo wouldn’t fault him for that.

“But after what would have been a difficult experience with me, at best, he now has 2 separate quirks? That can’t be a coincidence.”

Chiyo considered the implication. “You suspect he might be involved with All For One.”

“He also spoke directly to the villains. They injured him, but they could have known that he could recover from it. Furthermore, when I told him he couldn’t be a hero, he also found out about my injury and my true form.”

“You lost track of a child who had debilitating information about your weakness?” Chiyo barely refrained from shouting. She took a deep breath. “You have to tell Nedzu.”

Toshinori visibly shuddered. “I know. Still, why fight the minor villains and attempt to help Aizawa?”

“Leave the speculation to the rat and Naomasa. Neither of us make good detectives.”

Toshinori nodded, but Chiyo knew he wasn’t going to drop it anytime soon.

  
  


Inko listened through her son’s door. Inko left work early yesterday to be with her son. Izuku had seemed off since he got back from England and she was sure what happened with the villains was traumatic. He arrived almost 3 hours after school had ended. He explained that he had to give a statement about the attack and that made sense. The bins of paperwork he was dragging behind him on a moving dolly was a bit more peculiar.

Izuku tried to sort through the papers and Inko watched her son’s frustration grow as he struggled to find a good way to organize them. It reminded her of early discovery work she did as a junior associate before she had the pull to redistribute that task to newer lawyers. Leaving work early meant she had work to catch up on, but since she had hit a good stopping point she was going to offer some help. Then she heard him start talking in a presumably empty room.

“Why are you on? I can’t record any of these statements yet.” Izuku was speaking English. Inko knew more of the language than the average Japanese citizen. It was a large part of her and Hisashi’s early relationship. Her husband didn’t move here with much of a vocabulary, despite being his father being from Japan. 

There was a pause, but Izuku continued, “Well if you're that intent on listening, you can let me vent. The lack of curiosity that Sectioned Heroes show has always bothered me. Since they didn’t want to deal with any of the spooky cases, they turned everything over as fast as they could and made it the Institute's problem. But at least it got handled that way!”

“The Hearn Division took every statement and supplementary material and put them in laundry baskets. The only statement that has all it’s pages together is mine! And that’s only because I put a paperclip on it before they threw it on top of the pile!”

“2 giant laundry baskets. That’s the Japanese equivalent to the Archives. That and every uncollected statement sitting in a bunch of police precincts. The guy in charge has more important things to do than run around collecting them. And also, his name is actually Mera Yokumiru?  _ Good Eye Looks Closely. _ Seriously?”

“I know some of these statements have been retyped. There are dates that go all the way back to 1950, older than the HPSC, but the paper is still white. Mera doesn’t know who retyped them. He doesn’t even know what heroes are allowed to work with the Hearn Division. It’s not a confidentiality problem, it’s that nobody has bothered keeping track.”

There was a sound of paper rustling and paper clips scattering. “There were cobwebs in the storage room where the statements were being held. They could be normal spiders camped out in an unused corner of a building. I doubt it though. There has to be something important in here. Elias won’t tell me what I’m looking for in Japan, but there has to be something. Gerard probably has some answers.”

Izuku’s bed creaked as he fell into it. It was the same sound it made when he was younger and he didn’t want to get caught out of bed late at night. If he was ready to take a break, Inko wasn’t to stop him. 

Izuku groaned loudly. “Statement ends, I guess.”


	8. Return to class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a New Years' resolution to have a real update schedule. Hopefully, I'll be able to crank out a chapter every other Monday with extra updates when I can.

Izuku didn't sleep the night of the USJ attack. Since The Eye stuff started in earnest, he barely slept at all. Maybe 5 hours a night at most? He knew he had bags under his eyes but no matter what time he went to bed or how tired he was, he would wake up a few short hours later. That was just part of being the Archivist, he guessed. Izuku stopped setting alarms. 

After taking the day off to process everything and recover, he fell into bed at 10:00 pm. He woke up at 8:30. School started at 8:25. “Shit!”

Inko was gone, but she left a pre-made breakfast out for him. Izuku ate it on the train. By the time Izuku got to the 1-A classroom, English was already over. At least it wasn’t the worst class to miss. 

“Get to your seat problem child. You can find out what you missed at lunch,” Aizawa said. He didn’t seem too worse for wear, but his hero costume was probably covering some of it.

Izuku felt his face go red as he muttered his apologies. Everyone was staring at him. Given who he worked for, he really shouldn’t feel so self-conscious about being watched. Classes continued and the students got up for lunch. Izuku was ready to stay behind but Aizawa told him to ask his classmates instead. 

Aizawa seemed to sense his student’s discomfort. The teacher sighed and said, “You’ll have to have an actual conversation with them at some point. Here’s a reason to break your isolation. Give them a chance.”

Izuku nodded. Aizawa was right of course, but that didn’t make it easy. Uraraka was sitting with the class rep, so no to that table. Everyone sitting with Kacchan was a no go. Todoroki was sitting mostly alone at the end of a table. He was probably paying attention.

Izuku took a deep breath and walked over to him. “Was anything important announced before I made it to class?” He asked. 

Todoroki took out a notebook and handed it to him. “I took notes, you can take a picture of them if you want.” 

Izuku thanked him profusely and took out his phone. The sports festival was in 2 weeks. Not a whole lot of time. After he was done taking pictures Izuku went to find Shinso.  _ Take that Mr. Aizawa, I didn’t have to have a real conversation with a classmate after all. _

Shinso was still eating alone and seemed surprised when Izuku sat down next to him. Izuku took out a notebook and flipped to the page where he wrote down all the questions he had about Shinso’s quirk. There were about 30 real questions with another 20 possible follow-ups based on what the answers to the first ones were.

“This was the final draft. I had some I cut when I realized they would be redundant and a bunch I realized when you probably wouldn’t actually know.”

“Why wouldn’t I know?” Shinso asked before scanning the pages. “Oh, yeah I don’t think I know the answer to most of these either.”

“I’ll have to ask my teacher about us doing some supervised experiments then.” Izuku took out a red pen and a highlighter. “Just cross out the ones you don’t want to answer and highlight the ones we need to figure out. I can try to come up with some experiments between classes. Can you…? Wait, um”

Shinso sat as he let Izuku figure out how to word his question. “Just tell me what you’re trying to ask,” Shinso said.

“I’m trying to ask if you can come over later to strategize,” Izuku replied. “I need to figure out a way to word questions that doesn’t sound so weird.”

Shinso shrugged. “Dude, your classmate ribbits. Quirks are weird, most people just roll with it.”

Izuku laughed. “Yeah, fair.”

“I’d like to hang out after school today by the way. I have a pretty strict curfew so probably can’t stay for dinner though.”

“Awesome! My mom will definitely want to serve a grandma early dinner to make sure you eat. Just letting you know now.”

Hitoshi smiled. “Cool. I have to know though, how do you know a pro hero in England?”

Izuku scratched at the scar on his neck. “It’s a weird story. I had an internship thing with this agency called the Magnus Institute. They work alongside pro heroes a lot on certain cases. Daisy is one of the pros we work with. I got kidnapped by a fire cult, and then got kidnapped from the fire cult by a different person. Daisy got me out the second time and decided I need to learn some basic self-defense.”

Shinso looked shocked, which was a fair response. “You’ve gotten kidnapped twice?”

“4 times, actually. Arguably 5 if you listen to Tim. I generally don’t these days,” Izuku answered with a smile. If he didn’t make a joke of it, it might be enough to break him down.

“What is the 5th time?” Shinso asked.

“Our job. We can’t really quit because of some weirdness, but it’s not like we’re stuck in the building. Tim just really hates the Institute these days.”

Shinso laughed. “Sounds wild. How did you even end up in England?”

“My parents are separated. My dad is actually Irish, but he works in England. He didn’t really live in Japan that long. Like I said, it’s hard to leave the Institute. It always draws you back.”

Shinso glared at his phone. “Fuck, I can’t read English.”

Izuku laughed. “Did you… I want to know if you tried to look them up.”

“Yeah,” Shinso answered. “Now I have to actually pay attention in class so I can internet stalk all these people you know.”

“Well feel free to join in on internet stalking Martin’s boyfriend. He’s in a band.”

“Oh Martin,” Shinso said with fake recognition.

“Well feel free to tell me about yourself at any time! I can’t really guide a conversation effectively until I can get a better handle on my quirk.”

Shinso shrugged. “I don’t have much of a social life to be honest, given that most people are scared to talk to me.”

“Yeah, I can relate. Not many people were interested in hanging out with a quirkless kid and in England, there was a language barrier problem. Most of my friends were my adult coworkers.”

“Wait, quirkless?” Shinso asked. “What about the healing quirk?”

“Also a recent thing,” Izuku admitted.

“...Weird.”

Toshinori went to knock at Nedzu’s door. The principal opened it before the tall man had the chance. Sometimes the rat let people knock to keep with social norms, but sometimes he liked to throw people off their games. Disturbing a human’s expectations often flustered them a great deal and it was especially true of Toshinori.

“Is there something you would like to discuss?” Nedzu asked.

Toshinori nodded and entered the office, closing the door behind him. His dark eyes made his serious expression look even more so. “It’s about Midoriya.”

“Ah, allow me to make some tea first,” Nedzu answered.

They sat down with their teacups in front of them. “When Yamada mentioned there might be a traitor in the class, I knew I couldn’t avoid this conversation any longer. I have good reason to believe that Midoriya is in league with All for One, even if he doesn’t know it.”

Nedzu briefly considered doing a spit take for comedic effect but decided against it. “Midoriya is not the traitor.”

“Midoriya used to be quirkless,” Toshinori began to explain.

“I know his abilities are not natural to him. He didn’t get them from All for One.”

Toshinori’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that there are other quirks that can be passed on like mine?”

“No, but close.” The implication that Midoriya is still quirkless went right over his head it seemed. Nedzu sighed. “There are things you are not meant to know, old friend, and Midoriya’s secrets are among them. Not every conspiracy has All for One at the center. I’m sorry that I can’t explain Midoriya’s situation to you, but just trust me that I know the important facts and All for One and Midoriya aren’t connected.”

Toshinori shook his head. “I’ve always respected your privacy. I know it’s important for you to keep your secrets. But this is different. Everything lines up for Midoriya being the spy.”

“I know it might seem different to you, but the web surrounding Midoriya is more connected to me than it is to All for One. Just trust me a little bit more.”

Toshinori stood up. “I trust you. But let me keep an eye on Midoriya.”

Nedzu smiled sadly. “I know you think you have too. If you ever feel like there’s a moment where you have the chance to let it go or keep pushing, please let go.”

Toshinori attempted to return the smile, as strange as it looked on his skeletal face. “If I can.”


	9. Spirals, part 2

Izuku met Shinso at the school gates. They walked to the train station together, making small talk about heroes. They were on a later train than most of the other UA students since they had to talk to Aizawa about scheduling training time. Since Shinso wasn’t a hero student they had to have teacher supervision. 

Izuku and Shinso sat down. A man took a seat on Izuku’s other side

“Archivist,” The man greeted in English.

Izuku looked over. “Gerard. What is this about?”

“Michael got kidnapped,” Keay answered.

“Spiral Michael?” Izuku asked.

“Yeah, and you’re going to help me save them.”

“What about your friends from the USJ.”

Keay rubbed his hand through his poorly dyed hair. “They won’t help me with this. The guy in charge decided he’d rather have the Distortion incapacitated for as long as possible.”

“Shit, this isn’t a trap, right?” Izuku asked, pouring as much intention into the question as he could. 

“No, it’s not. I really do need your help. Plus you owe them.”

He turned to Shinso, switching to Japanese. “I am so sorry, but I have to go help with an institute thing.”

“I can come along,” Shinso offered.

“That’s really not a good idea,” Izuku said. At the same time Keay replied, “Yeah, we could use the extra hand.”

“Shinso has a strict curfew.” Izuku protested.

Keay rolled his eyes. “As soon as we get Micheal they can open a door to his house.”

“You can’t just knowingly drag people into this kind of crap!” Izuku continued.

Keay leaned across Izuku, held out his hand as if to initiate a handshake, and said, “Hi, my name’s Gerry Keay, I’m trying to save my boyfriend, who is a fear monster, with the help of your friend, who is a different fear monster.”

Shinso looked baffled and Izuku glared. Keays smiled sardonically. “So, we actually aren’t on the right train. We’ll be taking the next stop.”

  
  


About an hour later they reached their destination. It was an abandoned warehouse. Keay emptied a backpack that was full of yarn and explained the plan. “Michael is trapped in a maze. The more they struggle to get out, the more complicated the maze gets. Plus the maze is made of mirrors so they can’t open a door to get out. Originally I was going to hold the string and send you in, but to be honest, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to send you alone. Now we can both use string to get through the maze with the purple kid holding the end outside. Every time he gets to the end, he just ties the next spool yarn on.”

“What if I run into trouble out here?” Shinso asked.

“Just follow the yarn to us and we’ll figure it out from inside the maze,” Keay answered.

Izuku thought it was a terrible plan, but Keay was right, Izuku owed Michael.

They entered the maze, hot pink yarn in hand.

A few minutes in, Izuku said, “I noticed that you use gender-neutral pronouns for Michael and now I’m worried that I’ve been misgendering him. Or them.”

Keay shrugged. “The Distortion doesn’t have a gender and kind of goes with anything. Michael Shelly was definitely a guy, but now he’s something else. It’s not so much a gender thing as it is that Michael isn’t just Michael Shelly any more. I use it to delineate between who he was and who they are now.”

“You knew him before he was the distortion?” Izuku asked.

Keay smiled and said, “Yeah, he was a 17-year-old intern and I was a 16-year-old runaway. We got close and I wasn’t sure how to deal with what happened to him. I saw them as the monster that ate my boyfriend. I thought they were pretending to still be my Michael.

“Anyways, we went our separate ways. I got cancer about 5 years ago and Gertrude left me behind in America. I made it, against all odds, but Gertrude was gone. I kind of assumed she was just off the map. That woman was a force of nature; it’s hard to imagine anything killing her. I ended up in Japan, trying to track her down. I got involved with some of the weirdness here and stayed. 

“Then, about last year, they showed up in Japan. Looking for me, I guess. We had a fling. And another. To be honest I’m not sure what we are now. I know Michael is capable of affection and they can certainly, ya know, show it. But love? I don’t know. I don’t think they know either.”

Keay turned to Izuku. “There a tape recorder in that bag?” He asked.

“Probably,” Izuku admitted.

“They showed up around Gertrude all the time. It annoyed her to no end”

Izuku chuckled. “Martin has a theory that we might be able to turn it into unlimited batteries.”

“Fear entities solving energy crises in the most inconvenient way.” Keay laughed.

“I’m wondering how you ended up with the League of Villains,” Izuku said.

“Have you gotten any statements involving an immortal guy who steals quirks?” Keay asked.

“Yeah, but they don’t feel supernatural. They don’t trigger whatever the real statements do.”

“You’re mostly right. 85% of the things he does are normal villainy. But he also has an interest in the world not ending and a lot of apocalypses want to start in Japan.”

“Ms. Cane mentioned the web sometimes puts people on the right path to preventing rituals from happening.”

Keay barked out a laugh. “That’s a charitable way of looking at it. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the All for One has a deal going with the web. But, he’s definitely not on Annabelle’s level of involvement.”

The duo came upon a dead end. They turned around to follow the yarn back and ran into Shinso and Toshinori in his deflated form. The teacher took a step between the purple-haired student and Keay. “You were at the USJ!” Toshinori said to the goth.

“Yep, and I will absolutely come quietly as soon as we’re done rescuing my friend,” Keay responded.

“And where is he?” Toshinori asked cautiously. 

“Somewhere in this maze. It’s going to be a bit harder to find him since we lost our yarn trail.”

Toshinori sighed. “Can I borrow your coat?” He asked.

Keay took it off with an expression of curiosity and handed it to the lanky man who wrapped the coat around his arm.

“Get into a duck and cover position like for villain attacks,” Toshinori further instructed, “Izuku, since you have a healing quirk, cover your classmate.” All three complied. 

There was a terrible noise as every mirror in the maze shattered. The walls of the maze collapsed. The building shook but the main structure held. Izuku felt cuts form on his exposed skin as small shards flew past him on the breeze of All Might’s smash, a punch so powerful it could change the weather. It was awe-inspiring to see it in person. When he wasn’t being drowned by a slime villain that is. The small cuts healed quickly but wow they hurt. Keay’s arms were streaked in thin lines of blood.

In the middle of the maze, Michael was looking around. He was more twisted than Izuku had ever seen. He moved towards Keay at an impossible pace but with each step the Distortion seemed less distorted. It was romantic in a very, very disturbing way. Martin and Sasha would probably think it was sweet.

Keay whispered in Michael’s ear. A door appeared beneath the shattered glass. It opened suddenly, without anybody turning the knob and the couple disappeared into it, leaving Shinso, Izuku, and All Might behind.

Izuku grimaced. “Shit.”


End file.
